In Defence of Suicidal Pedestrians

Many Filipino pedestrians are suicidal. I guess we’ve established that, haven’t we? And sometimes, just sometimes, I want to be the one to fulfill their dreams of getting butchered and having their bits and pieces scattered on the highway.

One of my dear, I-don’t-know-they-could-stand-me friends talked to me after reading my first post on the Filipino jaywalking trend and she agreed that I had some points. However, she, being someone who isn’t fortunate enough to have a car to drive herself around, asked me to listen to her points.

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So for about a half an hour there, we debated, slapping faces here and there. We finished our verbal combat still as friends, our faces all red and bearing marks of each other’s palm. I argued how stupid and uneducated some Filipinos were to go jaywalk when they could perfectly understand that there were signs saying it was illegal and that there was often times a pedestrian overpass right above them or just a few meters away. Then she started defending them lazy jaywalkers. She said some pedestrians are under the impression that it saves them time and effort to just cross the street where they want to instead of walking towards and climbing up the overpass. They might also be in a hurry or running late and find having to go to the pedestrian crossing time-consuming.

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There is no point in being punctual if they’re going to end up butchered. I mean, if they die, they won’t be able to speak of getting there right on time to begin with. Better late but alive and intact than on-the-dot punctual but skinned-to-the-bone dead.

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I also started my sentiments on how they so ostentatiously use the pedestrian crossing lanes without even knowing how and when to use them. I mean, I’ve encountered countless people who cross the street using the pedestrian crossing when the vehicular traffic light is GREEN. What’s up with that?

Then she went on about how pedestrians don’t really know that they’re doing it wrong. My friend continued with how the Philippine mass media do not even try to educate the public about these basic things. Yada yada yada.

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Mass education? What for? There’s no need to tell them that they have their own pedestrian traffic lights to watch. There’s no need to tell them that when their light is GREEN, they can cross. And that when it isn’t, they can’t. Because. Cars. Could. Run. Them. Over. What is so hard to understand about GREEN AND RED?STOP AND GO? Even kindergarten kids know what these colors are supposed to mean.

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Moreover, if I were in their shoes, and my survival depended on what I know and what I don’t know, then heck I would want to be aware of the things that could keep me alive. And from getting so pointlessly killed in a very stupid accident. In any case, I wouldn’t want people going to my funeral service and saying, “I told you so.”

Responses

Uh-huh. I don’t think laziness is an excuse not to follow the law.

Better late but alive and intact than on-the-dot punctual but skinned-to-the-bone dead.

Aye, aye. Precisely.

In other countries, they’re really strict about this. While we were in Singapore, my mother and I would not even think about crossing the street until the light for pedestrians turns green. Besides the fact that we were afraid to get caught (“I’m watching you,” says the traffic cameras all over the streets), we didn’t fancy the thought of us being roasted pigs.

Maybe some Filipinos just like to exercise their right of stupidity. As my driving instructor says, “Pedestrians are always right.” Yeah, right.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Pedestrians are always right. That’s what they think. Oh well, they can be right or anything they want after getting run over and butchered to pieces. Thanks for visiting, Shari!

This isn’t just a Filipino thing, trust me. It happens too often here in Chicago. I nearly hit a TV news anchor the other day because he was jaywalking! Well, OK, I was driving while under the influence of Benadryl, but he was jaywalking. If I’d actually hit him, I wonder who would have gotten the ticket. Maybe both of us–him for jaywalking (though I don’t know how strictly they actually enforce that here), or me for driving under the influence (though I don’t know if Benadryl counts in Chicago or Illinois).

ade: Not where I drive most of the time. And they still jaywalk anyway. Also, at intersections, they don’t need no ped lights because they are not supposed to cross when it’s the cars’ turn to cross. It’s just a bit of common sense, which many many people here lack.

I was driving (slowly, mind you) in our subdivision one day when some idiotic high school girl stepped right into the road from behind a parked vehicle (it was a boat hoist/transporter). What did she expect, that I’d see her coming out of nowhere from behind a massive vehicle? I was too late to hit the brakes and clipped her with my mirror. I think she deserved every scratch she got.

It’s great to observe Filipinos walking in front of cars as leisurely as if they were strolling a field of flowers. Just great.